film
Sieranevada
directed by Cristi Puiu, Croatia/France/Macedonia/Romania, 173'
- In the latest drama by Romanian New Wave pioneer Cristi Puiu (The Death of Mister Lazarescu, MIFF 2008), an extended family gathers to commemorate the life of a recently deceased patriarch. A celebratory meal and Orthodox ritual are planned, but the guests – a 9/11 conspiracy theorist, an old-fashioned communist and a relative’s heavily intoxicated friend among them – find themselves increasingly sidetracked by personal and political disagreements.
- Shot in near real-time and mostly within the confines of a cramped Bucharest apartment, Sieranevada was one of the most critically acclaimed films at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Alternately tense and hilarious, it will strike a chord with anyone who has endured a dysfunctional family reunion.
